Out With The Old and In With The New

Greeting Friends~

It is the very last day of 2009. Out with the old and in with the new. Another opportunity in life is about to begin. A New Year with new possibilities.

There is always something about the New Year that appeals to me. maybe it's because it is a type of holiday or time that is different than Valentine's Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's like I am a little kid again and I can be anything I want. Remember the times when we were young and dreamed about being firemen, nurses, astronauts, spies, movie stars or doctors? The New Year is my opportunity to re-live that.

I think about all the things that can be this year. I can be thinner. I can be healthier. I can fill all the holes in the driveway. I can see old friends. I can travel. I can do more for others. I can plant a garden. The possibilities are endless.

Notice that I said, "I can" and not "I will." Right now I know I CAN do them but I need to convince myself...sell myself...invest myself...in the idea that I WILL do them.

Resolutions, which are really only lists of what is possible, are fun as long as they are realistic. I have several for 2010. I will not bore you with my list...Chet LOVES lists...Chet makes lists of the lists he wants to make.

Suffice it to say that all of my resolutions are things that will make my life, and the lives of others, better and happier.

I hope that each and everyone of you have a Happy New Year.

Inspiration of the Day

In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I used to think it would take six-hundred years to tunnel under the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved geology. I guess it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big god-damned poster. Like I said, in prison a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied. It turns out Andy's favorite hobby was totin' his wall through the exercise yard, a handful at a time. I guess after Tommy was killed, he decided he had been here just about long enough. Andy did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guard simply didn't notice. Neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes? Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile. -- Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, Prisoner at Shawshank from 1927 - 1967.

 Recipe of the Day

Here is a list of the Top 100 recipes for 2009 on Recipezaar. Most are high in calories and other bad stuff but maybe you might find a way to make a lower cal version (and share it with us, through the comments, thereby getting another entry into the contest). http://www.recipezaar.com/sitenews/post.php?pid=1062

My small step for today is to eat reasonably tonight from the many h’orderves that I prepare.

I want to thank everyone for taking part in our 2009 journey and I hope to see you all (and more) in the New Year!

Happy Trails!